Families of Children with Disabilities: Normative Data and Other Considerations on Parenting Stress

Abstract

The parenting stress of families who have a child with a disability is an area receiving considerable research. The present study used a family strengths or “normality” perspective to investigate three issues regarding parent-related and child-related parenting stress, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (Abidin, 1990). A large sample ( n = 725) of families who had a young child with disabilities participated. A comparison of parent-related and child-related parenting stress between the sample of families with a child with disabilities and the PSI normative sample was conducted. The distribution of PSI scores for the sample of families of children with disabilities was examined for statistical normality, and normative data for these families were presented. An item analysis was conducted on child-related parenting stress to examine issues regarding its construct validity for families of children with disabilities. Issues regarding the use of stress measures and to the construct of child-related stress as these impact on early intervention activities are discussed.